Ars Longa, Vita Brevis
by midnightmoon59
Summary: HARRY/DRACO. under the oddest and probably not the best circumstances, harry and draco develop feelings for each other. SLASH. CHAPTERS, WILL UPDATE SOMEWHAT OFTEN.
1. Prologue

Prologue

It was an odd day for Harry Potter. Normally, he would wake up at six-thirty on Saturday mornings. But today, he woke up with the sun burning his bare shoulders through the open curtains. Ginny must have left already because on the side of the bed where she normally slept, Moony was curled up, his back paws occasionally twitching. Harry rolled over, letting an arm flop across his dog's chest. Moving his fingers in circular patterns in the dog's fur, Harry gently blew on the husky's pointed ear. Moony's head shot up, searching for potential danger to his master.

"Come on, boy. Let's see if mommy left us breakfast," Harry chortled between slippery kisses from his best friend.

Harry pushed himself out of bed and Moony jumped down, staying close to his master's heels. They thumped down the steps and into the small dining room. Sitting on two plates was a stack of pancakes each; one was double chocolate, the other plain and considerably smaller. Harry pulled out a chair for himself and at the other end Moony jumped up on his own chair. Resting next to the human's plate was a note from his wife.

_Harry__,_

_I'm sorry I didn't wake you; I know how you like to see the sunrise on Saturday, but you just looked so happy. The office called so I had to go in. They just can't run the __**Prophet**__ without me. Why not take Moony to the park or try to paint some more? _

Harry set the letter down and moved to put syrup on he dog's pancakes. Moony wagged his tail eagerly. But just as he was about to pour a sticky substance, the letter jumped up and hit him in the face.

_Harry! Luna said you can't put syrup on Moony's pancakes anymore. In fact, she wants us to cut down on his sugar all together. She told me she's never seen a dog with a cavity before!!_

"Sorry, boy. Momma says no more sugar. Would you like some grapes?"

Once more the letter whacked him in the face.

"Damn it!"

_Also, sweetheart, you can't give him fruit unless its apples. Or carrots. _

"Carrots aren't fruit!"

_I know they aren't fruit. Try to have fun today. I'll be home around three, so we can go out to dinner if you want. _

_With all the love I can muster since you own my heart,_

_Ginny Potter_

Harry smiled at his wife's signature. She always wrote "Potter". They had gotten married last year and she never failed to include the new last name. Seeing it warmed her heart, and also Harry's.

He read over the letter again, noticing how Ginny had written down comebacks and interpreted Harry's actions.

"Well, guess you're going to have to eat 'em without the syrup." Moony whimpered and nosed his plate away. Harry reached across the table and pushed them back. First, he sniffed them, looked back up at Harry, and then gave in, eating the pancake at the top of the stack.

"Good boy," Harry said, shoving a pancake in his mouth. "Want to go to the park today?" The dog's eyes brightened noticeably. Harry smiled fondly at the dog. After asking Hermione the spell, he had checked twice to see if the husky was really an animagus in disguise.

After they finished their breakfast, Harry threw the Tupperware plates into the sink. Moony barked.

"'I'll do 'em later," Harry promised. He went up the stairs two at a time, Moony trailing closely behind.

"So, I'll get dressed, grab some sketching stuff, and then we can walk to the park." Harry told the dog, whose tail was wagging frantically. Pulling down and stepping out of his red pajama pants, he tugged a plain white shirt over his head. Moony pulled a pair of paint splattered jeans out from under the bed.

"You think I should wear those?" The dog looked out the window, at the pants, then started panting.

"Oh, it's hot out and those have a lot of tears in them, the better to keep me cool! You know, Moony," he started, zipping the fly of the jeans. "Sometimes I just cannot believe you are a simple muggle dog." A low growl from Moony told Harry he hurt the dog's feeling somehow. "No offense,' Harry quickly added.

On the way to the door, Harry grabbed a 4B pencil and sketch pad. Moony grabbed his favorite tennis ball with his mouth and trotted out the door after Harry.

The park was only two blocks away. If you asked Harry why he insisted on their house, he would lie and say its was the school district; that a lot of wizards lived nearby so they could send their children to a muggle elementary school to learn basic math and reading skills. But the truth was Harry loved the park. He loved the trees, the way the sunlight hit the fountain, the rusty swing set, the wooden benches. The park was a continuing source of artistic inspiration. Not to mention the fact that Moony loved the park as well.

They settled at a bench facing the fountain. Harry flipped open his pad to a fresh page; tossing Moony's ball carelessly in front of him. His hand moved swiftly, leaving light graphite marks on the paper. The fingers hugged the pencil, manipulating it however they chose, his wrist acting as the world's greatest acrobat. When he drew or painted, Harry lost all sense of reality, wandering off into a world where all that mattered was the scene at his hand.

When he looked up, it struck him that Moony hadn't returned with the ball. Fear controlling his actions, he jumped up, leaving behind his stuff.

"Moony?" he called out, running in no specific direction. He heard him bark, but he didn't sound frightened. Following the noise of his barks, Harry found him with a man sitting under a tree, reading and lazily scratching behind his ear.

"I'm sorry if my dog was bothering you," Harry gushed, moving towards Moony. The man briefly looked up before his eyes went wide.

"No trouble. He's really rather ador- Wait you're…"

Harry inhaled deeply, bracing himself for the praise the was sure to follow.

"It's scar head!"

The air in his mouth flew out. "Malfoy?" he asked.


	2. Finding Condolence

**Author's Notes:**

yeah, uh, i know i haven't updated recently. my bad...

and **i **think this part might be a bit confusing, but bookfreak101 said it was fine, so tada!!

* * *

Chapter 0ne: Finding Condolence

"Malfoy?"

"The last one there is. And how is the Boy-Who-Lived, the Chosen One, and most impressively, the winner of _Witch Weekly_'s Most Dazzling Eyes Award?

"Shut it, Malfoy," Harry snapped, turning on his heels to go back to his bench. Moony faithfully followed. Malfoy jumped up and called after him.

'Harry, wait. I was just being a dick." He jogged after him, catching up and seizing him by the elbow. "Let's just forget about our past, putting our puerile antics behinds us. And, well, you know, move on?"

"Er, alright, Draco. I suppose that we could try being…friends. So what are you reading?" Harry asked, pointing to the book tucked under Draco's arm.

"Oh, The Lord of the Flies."

"Wow, staying in a Muggle suburb and reading Muggle literature."

"Harry…" Draco moaned. _I could get used to him moaning my name_ Harry thought for a fleeting second before shaking his head a little.

"I'm just impressed, is all. I mean, you of all people aren't exactly the greatest fan of Muggles."

Draco nodded in the direction of Harry's bench. "Come on, sit. We need to talk about a couple of things." Harry sat down, setting his art supplies on his lap. Draco sat a little closer than necessary but it didn't bother Harry. Moony curled up on top of Harry's sneakers.

"Harry, you said not only five seconds ago we would put the past behind us. And then you make a comment like that. Also, I'm not staying in a Muggle suburb, I'm living here. I bought an apartment just two months ago. I have no intention of leaving. I'm no longer the shallow reflection of my father's beliefs you knew at school."

"Draco, I wasn't trying to, I mean-" Harry stammered.

"It is okay, Harry. I'm used to it. So," Draco continued, trying to change the subject. "What have you been up to since the war ended?"

"Well, besides winning _Witch Weekly_'s Most Dazzling Eyes Award, twice I'd like to add, I've been working as an Auror part-time and painting a lot."

"Yeah, I read about your artwork in _The Daily Prophet_." Well, not so much "read about" as went to a gallery opening and bid on a painting under a false name. "It's very beautiful."

Harry's cheeks burned bright red. "Well, thanks. What about you?"

"Oh, I've been working at _The Daily Prophet_. I don't really have to work, with the Malfoy inheritance and all, but I like it. Didn't you marry Ginny Weasley?" Draco asked.

"Yeah." Harry grinned. "About a year and a half ago."

"Well, that's nice. And did Granger marry the youngest Weasley boy?"

"Yeah, Hermione married…Weasley." Harry couldn't bring himself to say "Ron."

"Aren't you still friends with the weasel? I mean, you did marry his sister."

"That's a touchy a subject."

"I understand."

Just then Harry's cellular went off. He flipped it open and the caller id told him it was Hermione.

"I should take this." Harry apologized.

"Go ahead. I should probably get going anyways."

"It was gr- nice seeing you. Draco," Harry added quickly.

"You too, Harry." Draco stood and walked away.

"Hello? Hermione?" Harry answered. Hermione was sniffling on the other line. "Hermione, what's wrong?"

"Ginny!" Hermione cried.

"What about Ginny, 'Mione? Sweetie, talk to me!"

"Harry, you got to get over here. The corner of Fifteenth and West Rise. Ginny, she's dead, Harry."

"No." Ginny, Ginny Potter, his Ginny was lying at his feet. Her long, red hair was spread out on the concrete while her empty, brown eyes stared at nothing. One of her black heels was broken and her grey skirt-suite was rumpled. Flecks of red covered everything in the area.

"No." His sobs were uncontrollable and he flung himself upon the broken woman. Hermione was off to the side, arms wrapped around her bawling husband, barely being able to contain the tears herself. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were trying to talk to the near-by paramedics. Apparently, Ginerva Weasley's life was cut short when a car had struck her going sixty-five in a school zone, running a red light in the process. A bystander had called 9-1-1 when the car reportedly "just backed away".

Mrs. Weasley was no longer able to control herself and her husband led her away; Percy ran over to take over. Somewhere, Harry heard a faint _pop _and then running footsteps.

"Where is she?" Bill Weasley asked, Fleur clinging to his arm. Charlie and George were sitting on the street curb. George looked up briefly, his eyes flicking towards where Harry was, before hiding his head in his hands again.

Harry was next to Ginny on the ground, arms wrapped around her waist, his face buried in her red hair. Moony was on the other side of Ginny, his head resting on top of her thigh.

"Where's Potter?" Draco heard the man in the next office, Jake Twist, ask.

"Dunno," Draco called out. Twist turned around to scowl at Malfoy. His hair was brown, a little curly, and silver, square glasses rested on the tip of his nose. The expression on his face seemed to tell Draco _Buddy, if you ain't got the answer I'm looking for, keep your mouth shut. Kay? _

Malfoy really couldn't stand Twist. His eyes were always mocking Draco and he had always been friends with Harry's wife, which must've made him better than everyone else. _I know Ginny Potter_ his blue eyes screamed.

"Didn't you hear?" a woman in a small cubicle asked. Jake shook his head.

"'Bout two hours ago on the corner of Fifteenth and West Rise, Ginny got hit by some speeding car. Potter, Harry that is, was bawling in the street for a good while. Clinging to the dead body he was. Then he just stormed off. Wouldn't talk to nobody."

The tea mug Twist had been holding shattered.

Harry Potter stumbled over to the bench he had been sitting at about an hour ago. At least, he thought it was an hour ago. Things seemed to losing all sense of reality to him. Was it an hour, a minute, or even a year? He had no idea.

"Harry?"

Harry's head shot up. Draco Malfoy had been standing next to him and was now moving to sit next to him.

"Where's your dog?"

"Moony? Oh, he's with Hermione."

"Ah." They sat in silence for awhile.

"I assume you heard about my wife?" Harry asked.

"Uh, yes, I did. I'm sorry for your loss." Draco said sincerely. He knew what it was like to loose a lover. There had been a boy nine years ago that Draco had fallen for while in hiding in a Muggle town. His name was Jack.

"You don't have to talk to me about it. I'm sure that's what Granger and the Weasleys are for."

"No, just Hermione. Since Ginny's," he choked a little. "Gone, none of them will really want anything to do with me. Well, except George and Mr. Weasley. For a long time, they've been putting up with me, all because I was with their daughter or sister. Now, the rest will just ignore me. Like Ron," he tacked on at the end.

"Ron's angry with you?" Draco was hesitant to ask. He doubted he could console the widower if all they did was talk about his dead wife's family.

Harry nodded. "Apparently, he didn't get enough credit for the demise of Voldemort. He keeps saying that I'm hogging all the fame. So I told him if he wants more fame, he can take a fucking marker and draw a fucking lightning bolt on his goddamn head. And that's the cleaned up version." Harry smiled a little before his face fell again. "I wasn't allowed to come to their wedding. 'Mione wanted me to come, but he refused to let me be there. He felt as if me being there would steal attention away from the groom himself. Ginny went and took a lot of pictures, though."

Harry started crying again and flung himself onto Draco. This really hadn't been what Draco had in mind when he asked Potter if they could put the past behind them. He had thought, maybe one wouldn't hex the other each time they bumped into each other. Work their way up to having coffee after about five years of politeness. But Harry Potter was in his arms after becoming friends with Draco Malfoy only two mere hours ago. It seemed like it was…wrong. Not that he minded squeezing Harry tightly back. Potter was trying to find condolence and it appeared he could only get it from Malfoy.

"Ms. Skeeter?"

"Not the one you want, but technically you're correct. I'm her niece, Vanessa. She's reluctantly retiring and training me to take her place. Can I help you?"

"Can you string together a decent article?"

"Even better," she said, grinning like a hyena and pushing a black curl away from her eyes.

"Great. I'm Jim, by the way. Harry Potter's, THE Harry Potter," he clarified. Vanessa rolled her eyes. What other Harry Potter was there that would be in the news paper? "Well, Potter's wife was just killed. Hit by a car, she was. Potter runs off, nobody can find him. Everybody's scrambling to get a story out of it."

"Here's what we do. We throw together some garden-gnome variety story. You know, just sort of report the incident. Just write what everyone knows."

"But, we want to stand out. Writing some average account ain't gonna do that!"

"Let me finish," she huffed through her teeth. "There's going to be more here. Everyone's going to be running around like hippogriffs with their heads cut off. We need to be looking for a different story. Dig around a little, no a lot, and find something different."

"How are we supposed to do that?"

"We watch Potter. Especially at the funeral."

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Dun Dun Dun! will update sometime this week...

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	3. Confessions for the Corpse

Chapter 2: Confessions for the Corpse

Chapter 2: Confessions for the Corpse

Planning a funeral was not a task that Harry Potter enjoyed. He had refused to let the Weasleys pay for it. Mrs. Weasley wasn't in her right mind. Two weeks after the accident causing her only daughter's death, she had sent Harry a tube of ruby-red lipstick, claiming Ginny left it at the Burrow last night. Harry knew that it wasn't even Ginny's at all. She had only worn a purple lipstick, a shade called 'Berry Bronze'. Those purple lips had driven him crazy. In a good way, of course.

Taking on the responsibility of full coverage of the funeral costs had only made Ronald more frustrated with Harry.

"It's his sister, Harry, his own flesh and blood. And you're just making him feel bad, like he can't support his family." Hermione had told him

"I'm not saying he can't, though," Harry huffed. "I'm just saying that I'm better off financially to spend this kind of money."

"Harry!" He noticed that she hadn't denied it.

The Weasleys insisted Ginny be put in their family plot. Harry was willing to concede.

Planning the funeral was hard. Hermione was coming by every week to check on Harry and Mr. Weasley was stopping by every once in awhile.

It was Draco Malfoy though that was consoling him every day. Harry would be at the park with his sullen canine right behind him. Draco would slide over on the bench and Harry would flop down next to him. Harry would be quiet for a good half-hour while Draco would rub behind Moony's ear. Then the flood of feelings would begin to come through the slowly breaking emotional dam that was Harry Potter.

"I can't even get a good night's sleep! Every time I close my eyes I hear her heart beat. And the bed, it just smells exactly like her. It's making me mad as a hatter!"

Draco was silent for a while, collecting his thoughts. Two questions came to his mind:

1) Why exactly was Harry telling all of this to _him_?

2) How was the dog handling it?

He went with option two.

"Horribly. In the morning he refuses to get out of bed for a long time. He smells her even better than I do."

"And after he gets up?"

"Hides under the dinning room table, until he gets so lonely he comes running to me. Then we walk here…" Harry trailed off.

The silence was bothering Draco, but Harry seemed fine with it.

"The funeral is in two weeks," Harry said.

"How do you think you'll hold up?"

"Dreadfully, I know. I just feel like a, a magnet to pain and suffering. And anyone in my vicinity is affected."

"Like letting anyone get close to you will eventually just fuck them over?" Draco supplied.

"Exactly." Harry rested his elbows on his knees and grabbed at his hair. His entire form shook. "I don't know how I can do this, Draco. Letting her go might be the hardest thing I'll ever have to do. It's just so unbearable."

"Harry, Harry, Harry," he whispered. Wrapping his arms around him, Harry buried his face into Draco's shoulder. Draco kissed the top of his head affectionately. "Be glad you are not numb."

"How did you become so wise?"

"You want to talk about me?"

"Distract me."

"Well, after the incident on the Astronomy Tower, Snape took me and my mother to a muggle village. We hid there for a long time, or at least I felt it was a long time. Love has a way of altering time flow."

"You fell in love."

"I did. There was a boy; his name was Jack. He was living in the house next to ours. He enlightened me. Before, I just didn't like the idea of killing. But he, he changed me. He opened my eyes to the Muggle world. Jack made me feel, well, I don't think there is a single word to describe it. He made me forget my father, the war. It was a perfect state of bliss. But nothing perfect can stay that way."

"What happened?"

"My father. He had spies in the area. Lucius had my mother go back to Voldemort and then he found Jack. His spies had noticed how much time I was spending with him, not to the fullest extent, but loving him, romantically or fraternally, was my Achilles' heel.

"He killed him, right before my eyes."

"Draco, I'm so sorry."

"I'll allow none of that. I have done my grieving; now we must focus on you."

"Will you come?"

"To the funeral?"

"Yes, I think I need you there." Harry was reluctant to say it. He was, after all, a pain magnet. But he had agreed to Draco's friendship the day it happened. It was Fate. And Harry Potter, the Chosen One, could not argue with Fate.

"If you need me, then I'll come."

"Thank you, Draco."

_Jimmy,_

_The funeral will be at Springhill Cemetery at one o'clock. Meet me at the gate._

_DO NOT BRING YOUR CAMERA__!!_

_Wizarding cameras are huge and do that big smoke-thing._

_I will provide you with a more _subtle_ contraption._

_ Vanessa_

"Harry, how have you been doing?"

"Not very good, Luna. It hurts."

"I'm sure it does. How is Moony doing?"

"Not very well either."

"Bring him to my office sometime. He might be suffering depression and we should be giving him treatment."

"Alright, I'll keep that in mind."

"Harry, be careful. I spotted some poisonous elmweed near those trees. Nasty stuff, that poisonous elmweed."

"Alright, Neville. I'll keep that in mind."

"So how have you been holding up?"

"It's been hard."

"Harry, have you taken proper security measures?"

"Yeah, Mad-Eye."

"Good boy. How have you been keeping up?"

"How have you been, Harry?"

"Have you been taking care of yourself, Harry?"

"How are you doing, Harry?"

"How 'ave you been 'olding up, 'arry?"

"Harry?'

"Draco? Of thank Merlin you're here." Harry gushed, flinging himself onto Malfoy, causing him to flinch briefly.

"That bad?"

"Worse. Everyone keeps asking me how I am and giving me their sympathy. I just can't take it anymore! You have no idea how much I want to leave right now and go home."

"No, Harry, I'm going to make sure you get your chance to say good-bye…"

"Jimmy, here." Vannessa said, thrusting a small, silver box at him. "This is a muggle camera. Since luckily its bright today, we can turn the flash off. We can take as many pictures as we want without the red flag."

"How do you plan on getting us in?"

"That's easy," she smirked. "I work at the Prophet, just one floor above her. I'll just tell some sob story about how I'd have coffee with her and will miss her dearly."

"You're an evil genius.'

"Duh. Now haul some ass."

The Weasley family took up most of the front two pews. A lot of them had come in for the funeral. It reminded Harry of Bill and Fleur's wedding, except sadder. Harry had been willing to sit in the last row but Hermione, Fred, and Mr. Weasley insisted he at least sit in the second pew. He was family after all.

Draco refused to accompany him, though. He knew the Weasleys would not take to him even being here, so he was in not hurry to be should-to-shoulder with them. Bu he was willing to sit behind Harry.

"It is a sad day, friends, for the Weasley family. Let us begin."

After a few prayers and speeches from Ginny's friends, Draco noticed Harry began to shake. He placed a hand on Harry's shoulder and rubbed it gently, soothingly.

"Jimbo, snap a picture of _that_." Vanessa ordered.

Harry leaned his head back, into the touch, and some tear drops fell and glistened against Draco's pale hand.

"And that, get that."

Towards the end of the ceremony, the priest asked if anyone wanted to come up and speak about Ginny. Hermione looked back at Harry, but he shook his head. There was no way in hell he was going up there.

Draco was sure Hermione had seen him so he quickly removed his hand. Granger seemed not to notice him, though, and Draco noticed that Harry had tensed when Draco removed his hand. He reached forward slowly and took hold of Harry's palm.

"Oh, this is good. Isn't this good, Jimmy?" She didn't wait for an answer. "Of course this is good. I'm a genius. I can see the headline now: **Potter Cuddles with Childhood Enemy at Beloved Wife's Funeral**. No, that's too long. Well, we don't have to have it right now."

Jake Twist moved his way through the crowd towards Harry. He was standing with Hermione and a very reluctant Ron.

"Harry Potter?" he asked. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Yes, who are you?"

"I'm Jake Twist." He stuck out his hand and Harry wearily shook it. "I worked with Ginny and I think there's something I need to tell…"

"Yeah, go on."

"Well, you see, about eight months ago, Ginny and I started, erm, Merlin this is awkward. We were having an affair. At first we were just going out for coffee after work, you know? And then one night I just kissed her and she kissed back. I was so confused and convinced I was falling in love with her. I'm still convinced I loved her."

"She was cheating on me?" Harry's voice cracked and his vision became blurry.

"Yes, but then about a week before the accident, so about a month before now, she called me one day and said it had to stop before we got to carried away. But I was so far away already-"

But he got cut off by Ron's fist.

"Get this Jimmy!" she squealed.

"Shut up!" Ron yelled. "You liar! Why would Ginny cheat on Harry? My sister was a great kid and so is Harry. There was never anything wrong with their relationship! Get out of here, you slime!" Ron kicked him in the leg.

"Ron, stop it. You're making a scene!" Hermione cried.

"Harry, don't believe him. He just wants attention!" Ron snarled. "Oh, look, the ferret's here, Harry. What do you reckon he'd want? To gloat?"

"Harry, what happened? Why are you shaking and why'd Weasley punch Twist?"

"What does it matter to you?" Ron sneered. "Why are you even here?"

"Don't you work for _The Daily Prophet_? I bet he just came to pay his respects to a colleague," Hermione said reasonably.

"Actually, no." Harry tried to say calmly, knowing what was about to happen next. "He's here for me."

Ron laughed; it wasn't a genuine laugh, but one laced with hurt and betrayal.

"Gone back to your old ways then, Potter?"

"Shut up, Ron!"

"Yeah, Weasley. He just lost his wife and he needed someone. You weren't there obviously, but I am!"

"Oh, this is great. My best friend brought a date to my sister's, and his wife's, funeral! Just a regular blast from the past, eh, Harry?"

"Ronald Weasley, what is going on?" Hermione asked firmly.

"It's nothing, Hermione. He's gone insane."

"No, Harry, you have! Your wife's been dead three weeks and already you're looking for a boyfriend! And you pick Draco Malfoy! This is just, this is just great!" And then Ron was gone.

"This is absurd. I don't have to stay around for this. Thank you, Draco, for being here and I hope to see you soon, Hermione."

And then Harry was gone, leaving a very confused Hermione and Draco.


End file.
